A medical director's perspective on healthcare leadership.

Healthcare leadership needs doctors in particular to step forward, despite the pressures, lack of recognition and challenges to bring their talents to aid improvement for patients and staff. There is clear evidence worldwide of the power of clinical, particularly medical leadership and its benefits are currently underutilised in the UK; now is the opportunity for major change. Focusing on the patient first ('what matters to you?') will be a necessary change. Healthcare leadership needs to understand and drive 'value' despite the challenges. Taking the healthcare management and leadership path should be properly recognised as a strong career choice for doctors, not a move away from patient care. Healthcare leadership of the future needs to understand what motivates people, the important 'triumvirate' of medical managerial and nursing/allied health professional leadership, and how taking a quality improvement approach will give more sustainable patient-centred results.